If there is one band wich star is rising in the Netharlands, I say it is Malkovich. Their ‘Therefore I Am Malkovich’ shirts are becoming famous, which is a good thing. Oh, it is not about the actor, this review, but about a band that decided to pick the name of the famous (and great) actor.

The first signs of life of Malkovich was last year, when they released ‘The Foundation Rocks’, an EP full of cynical artwork and six short songs, all titled as a number. The CD was a pretty pleasant meeting with this band. They combined some emo-core influences with brutal hardcore. I think you can call this Screamo. The lyrics were short, hysterical, but pretty convincing.
Then, this year. Malkovich has toured his ass off and also dug with Menno Bakker into the studio to record ‘A Criminal Record’ (brilliant title). This record has the same funny (yet cool) artwork, and the concept of the music hasn’t changed drastically.
This is a CD I had to listen to many times before getting into it. The first times it was too much, the screams, the constant screaming, the riffs that are torn apart and played in pieces, the short songs with a massive sound.

It is not an album you can put on at any time. But Tool’s `Aenema` also isn`t, and that is in my opinion one of the best records ever.
After a few listenings you can draw lines to Snapcase, to Refused, To Icarus Line, but also to a bunch of metalcore bands, in riffing (Darkest Hour, From Autumn To Ashes) etc. The lyrics are brilliant again, so simple, but the cynism just splashes out of it (like in ‘025’ and ‘026’).

After a few listenings there are a few songs that are my absolute favourite: ‘020’, the opening song, which has really cool guitarloops, ‘018’ and ‘025’ are also songs that will help people to remind them of Malkovich.
A last note for Reflections Records: This label has been doing pretty hard work, and with a DYS attitude, they reached far in the Netherlands, they already released about 60 CD’s/EP’s/7’’s etc. And with Face Tomorrow, Razor Crusade and Malkovich, they have the top of independent musical Netherlands. Superb.